Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Republican-led House Votes (Again) To Repeal Health Law

The repeal effort is a means for Republican leaders to rev up voters before November's elections. Five Democrats also voted with the majority. As with previous efforts, however, the measure is expected to languish in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

The New York Times: Repeal Of Health Care Law Approved, Again, By House
Waging old battles with new zeal, the House passed a bill on Wednesday to repeal President Obama's health care overhaul law less than two weeks after the Supreme Court upheld it as constitutional (Pear, 7/11).

Los Angeles Times: House GOP Leads Passage Of Health Care Law Repeal
For the 33rd time, House Republicans steered passage of legislation taking aim at the nation's new healthcare law – this time in a largely symbolic vote to repeal it. The two-day floor debate was orchestrated by GOP leaders to rev up voters before the November election, tapping into the deep divisions that remain over the plan two years after President Obama's signature domestic achievement became law (Mascaro, 7/11).

The Wall Street Journal: GOP House Moves To Repeal Health Law In Symbolic Vote
The House voted on Wednesday to repeal President Barack Obama's health-care law, a symbolic act in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent ruling upholding the legislation. The 244-185 vote was largely along party lines, with five Democrats joining all Republicans in voting to undo Mr. Obama's much-debated program. The vote allowed Republicans to reaffirm their opposition to the health-care law, but repeal has little chance of taking effect (Bendavid, 7/11).

USA Today: House Votes To Repeal Health Care Law
It was the 33rd vote to repeal the law or eliminate funding for its provisions since Republicans took control of the chamber last year. None of the GOP's efforts stood a chance of enactment because Democrats control the Senate and the White House, which issued a veto threat Monday on the GOP's repeal bill (Davis, 7/11).

The Associated Press: Slap To Obama: GOP House Votes To Kill Health Law
Pressing an election-year point, Republicans pushed yet another bill through the House on Wednesday to repeal the nation's two-year-old health care law, a maneuver that forced Democrats to choose between President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement and a public that is persistently skeptical of its value. The vote was 244-185, with five Democratic defectors siding with Republicans (Espo, 7/12).

Bloomberg: U.S. House Again Votes to Repeal Obama's Health Care Law
The Republican-led U.S. House voted to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law, demonstrating party leaders' resolve to undo the president's main domestic-policy achievement….The House won't pursue other major health-care legislation before the November election because "the big thing is going to be the election," Representative Wally Herger, a California Republican who leads the health subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee, said in an interview (Tiron and Rowley, 7/12).

Reuters: House Votes To Repeal Obama Healthcare Law, Again
The Republican-led House of Representatives, on a near party-line vote of 244-185, on Wednesday once again passed a bill to repeal President Barack Obama's overhaul of the healthcare system. Just like previous House efforts to end the two-year-old healthcare law, the bill is certain to be stopped by Obama's fellow Democrats who control the Senate (Ferraro and Smith, 7/11).

NPR: House Votes to Repeal Health Care Law
With a vote of 244 to 185, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives just voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Obama's signature domestic legislation known colloquially as "Obamacare" (Peralta, 7/11).

Kaiser Health News: House Debates Repeal Of Health Law (Video)
In advance of Wednesday's House vote to repeal the health law, Rep. John Dingell offers Republicans his gavel from Medicare passage, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor denounces "Washington-based care" (7/11).

The Hill: House Votes 244-185 To Repeal Health Care
The House voted again Wednesday to repeal President Obama’s healthcare law, a largely symbolic gesture that gave Republicans some revenge against the Supreme Court ruling that declared the law constitutional. Republicans also see it as a way to motivate their base this fall as they fight to keep control of the lower chamber, win the Senate and take the White House. Members approved the repeal legislation on a 244-185 vote, after five hours of debate that stretched over two days. Five Democrats, most of them facing tough reelection bids, supported the repeal effort alongside the GOP, prompting the Republican National Committee (RNC) to declare the result "bipartisan" (Viebeck and Kasperowicz, 7/11).

NewsHour (Video): In Symbolic Vote, House Republicans Move To Repeal Health Care Law
Republicans in the House on Wednesday voted to overturn the health care reform law recently upheld by the Supreme Court. For an overview of where the controversy stands in the states -- where governors have ramped up support and opposition to the law -- Gwen Ifill speaks with reporters from Nevada, Texas and Washington, D.C (7/11).

ABC: House Obamacare Repeal: Thirty-Third Time's The Charm?
The House vote was largely along party lines, 244 – 185. Five House Democrats – all of whom also opposed the law when it passed in 2010 – crossed party lines to vote with the majority. No Republicans defected on the vote. The five Democrats voting for repeal hailed from red or purple states and included Rep. Dan Boren of Oklahoma, Reps. Mike McIntyre and Larry Kissell of North Carolina, Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas, and Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah (Parkinson, 7/11).

MinnPost: Minnesota Delegation Splits Along Party Line On Affordable Care Act Repeal
The Minnesota U.S. House delegation split on party lines on another vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled the law constitutional. The final tally was 244-185. Minnesota's four Republicans voted for the bill; its four Democrats voted against it. The delegation's votes were identical to the ones they took the last time the House tried repealing the whole law, back in January 2011 (Henry, 7/11).

Marketplace: What Is The Cost Of A House Vote? (AUDIO)
Say this for Republicans in the House of Representatives, they're nothing if not determined. Today they held the 33rd vote in the past 18 months to repeal the health care law. It passed, like all the others before it, along -- yes -- party lines. Going nowhere in the Senate, but it did occur to us that, there being no such thing as a free lunch, all this symbolic voting must actually cost something, right (Marshall-Genzer, 7/11)?

News outlets also offer reports exploring the absence of "replace" plans and other strategies to undermine implementation of the law -

Politico: Still No GOP Plan To 'Replace'
Even as they cheer their "Obamacare" repeal vote, here's a reality check: House Republicans have done next to nothing they promised they would when it comes to health care. Sure, they've voted to kill parts of President Barack Obama's law more than 30 times, slashing funding, using the votes as red meat to rally the base — even squeezing some into law (Sherman and DoBias, 7/11).

Medscape: Repeal Isn't Only Way To Block Health Law, Says House GOP
As expected, the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives voted today 244 to 185, mostly along party lines, to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — for the 31st time. And once again, President Barack Obama promised to veto the legislation repealing his landmark health law should it reach his desk, which is unlikely, given the Democrat-controlled Senate. However, Republicans have several other strategies available to delay or block implementation of the law. Congress has already eliminated some individual provisions, including trimming subsidies for purchasing health insurance and cutting funds for the law's Prevention and Public Health Fund. So far, Congress has struck $52 billion from the law, Debbee Keller, a spokesperson for the House Committee on Ways and Means, told Medscape Medical News in a written statement (Jaffe, 7/11).

The Hill: Conservatives Tell GOP Leaders They Want Health Care Funding Fight This Year
Conservatives in the House are pushing GOP leaders to continue the campaign against President Obama's healthcare law even after Wednesday's vote to repeal the law. Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) are gathering signatures this week for a letter asking GOP leaders to defund the healthcare law this year. "We appreciate your willingness to schedule a vote on the full repeal of ObamaCare," the letter states. "We should continue efforts to repeal the law in its entirety this year, next year, and until we are successful. However, in the meantime, there is more we can do in Congress." Jordan chairs the Republican Study Committee, and Bachmann leads the House Tea Party Caucus (Baker, 7/11).

CT Mirror: To Murphy, Republicans Have 'Fatal Attraction' To Health Care Act
Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, compared the GOP's repeal campaign to the movie "Fatal Attraction," which featured Glenn Close as a scorned woman who ruthlessly pursues Michael Douglas and his movie family. "Having now had 30 separate debates on this floor over repeal of the heath care bill ... House Republicans have finally hit their boil-the-bunny moment," Murphy said, a reference to Close's cruel dispatch of a family pet. "Americans want us to move on" (Radelat, 7/11).

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